Process and apparatus for forming sheet-metal forms



I. H. AND J. L. AUBLE.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET METAL FORMS. APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 1. 1919.

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Patented July 29, 1919.

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J. H. AND J. L. AUBLE.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET METAL FORMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. 1919.

1,3 1 1 ,368. Patented July 29, 1919.

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PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET METAL FORMS,

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. i919.

Patented July 29, 1919.

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J. H. AND J. L. AUBLE.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET METAL FORMS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. 1919.

1,31 1,368. Patented July 29, 1919.

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JAMES H. AUBLE AND JAMES L. AUBLE, OF CINCINNATI,\OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THEAUBLE DIE & ST$MPING COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OFOHIO.

PROCESS AND AIPARATUS FOR FORMING SHEET-METAL FORMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES H. AUBLE and JAMES L. AUBLE, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamiltonand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProcesses and Apparatus for Forming Sheet-Metal Forms, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

In the drawing of metal forms from a blank of sheet metal, it has beencustomary to employ a series of dies and punches or male and female diesin a series of progressive and separate operations to gradually draw outand form the blank into the shape desired. M

It is the principal object of our invention to provide a method ofproducing sheet metal articles and; the dies for carrying out theprocess with which the sheet metal article may be formed in a singleoperation, the various parts being so connected and in-' terrelated thatthe article. can be formed in a single set of operations without thenecessity of-withdrawing the blank and subjecting it to a series of diesor for annealing as is usually necessary between each separate operationunder the older methods.

In the drawings, d Figure 1 is a top plan View. of'the male Fig. 2' is acentral longitudinal section of the dies at the commencement of thefirst operation.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the blank holder.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the outer set of interlockingparts carriedby the male die.

Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal section of the dies at the end of thefirstoperation.

Fig. 6 is a similar View at the end of the second operation.

Fig. 7 is a similar view upon the completion of the dieing operation.

Fig. 8 is a side view of one of the cam arms depending from theheadblock by means of which the movable die members are shifted.

Fig. 9 is a'plan view of the lower member of the outer set ofinterlocking and collapsible parts of the male die.

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 are perspective views of both sets of the upperand lower interlocking collapsible members, taken separately.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view, partly in section, of said members withthe outer set in,collapsed position. 7

"As illustrated in the drawings, we have shown the construction of diesfor forming a cylindrical shell, but of course it will be understoodthat the particular form of the article to be produced can be. of anyshape desired, and that the dies will also be shaped accordingly.

We have also only shown two sets of collapsible members, although itwill be understood that this number may be varied as desired.

As illustrated in the drawings, 1 is the male die block and 2 the femaledie. male die is suitably mounted on a base plate 2*, and the female dieis secured to thetop plate 2 which in turn is securely bolted to theheadblock 2, and .the headblock 2 is provided with the guiding arms 3,3, which move and are guided in the ver- The ticalholes 4, 4, in thedie. There are prefessary in forming the metal, the die 2 is providedwith a series of shoulders 8, 9. g

The, first step in the process is to cut the propershaped blank from aplateof sheet metal, and to accomplish this the sheet blank 10 is laidon top of the die block 1. Securely bolted on the top portion of theblock 1 around the recesses 5 are a series of steel cutting-blocks 11which formacutting edge 12 in connection with the outer edge 13 of thedie 2. The die 2 is brought down and the blank is cut in the firstoperation of the shape desired.

As illustrated in the drawings this shape is that of the circular disk.

Mounted to slide in the central recess 5 in the block 1 is a ring 14which serves as the blank holder during this operation. This rin has aseries of supporting arms 15 which extend through the bottom plate 2 andupon which spring pressure is applied in any suitable way to hold theblank holding ring 14 in position, and as the die block 2 descends theblank holder 14 is pressed downwardly, holding the blank as it is formedinto a shallow cup. As a convenient means for maintaining the clampingpres-- sure of the blank holder, the lower end of the arms 15 rest on aplate 16 which is spring-pressed upwardly by the coiled springs 17interposed between the plate 16 and the bolster of the die press.Normally the blank holder 14 is held at a level with the top of the dieblock 2. p

As the blank is cut of the proper size by the cutting-blocks 11, theblank holder is pressed downwardly and the outer portion of the sheetmetal blank is formed around the collapsible die member 18.

In the drawings we have illustrated two sets ofthese collapsible diemembers, but as it will appear from the. description of the constructionand operation, as many sets of these collapsible dies can be used asdesired.

For each set of these collapsible dies there are two members, for theouter set an upper member 18 and a lower member 19, and for the innerset an upper member 20 and a lower member 21. These die members for theupper members are constructed with depending fingers 22, 22, and thelower members with upwardly extending fingers 23, 23 and the outermember of each set rests upon and is supported by its-correspondinglower member as shown in Fig. 4, with the,

blunt ends of the corresponding .fingers abutting. One edge of eachfinger is straight or vertical, as shown at 24 and 24, and the otheredge is cut obliquely, as shown at 25, 25 for the corresponding fingersof each set, and the straight and oblique faces are reversed for eachsuccessive set. It will be evident that if one of the collapsible diesof each pair is rotated while the other'die remains stationary, the endsof the fingers will pass each other and allow the upper die member tointerlock with its corresponding lower member, the two members graduallytelescoping as the oblique faces are brought more and more in contact asthe upper member descends. I

To bring about this telescoping movement after the upper portion hasserved its purpose, as a die to hold the blank during the formingoperation, we provide laterally ex tending arms 26 at the lower edge ofthe outer die member 19. These arms extend into recesses 27 between thebottom plate 2* and the die block 1. This recess is suffioiently wide topermit the. oscillation of the arms to allow the upper die member to bethe arms 3 which depend from the headblock 2 are formed with cam bends28, 29, and as the upper die descends these cam surfaces bear first onone side and then on the other of the forks 26 of the arms and rock oroscillate the lower die member 19 back and forth. The first movement asalready described allows the upper and outer die member 18 to rotateinto interlocking position, with its corresponding lower member, and thecontinued pressure of the die 2, as the lower member is turned pressesthe upper member downwardly.

Located inside the collapsible dies 18, 19, as already stated, are thecollapsible dies 20, 21. The die member 21 at the bottom has a flange 30which engages in a recess in the inner surface of the outer die member19, and when the die 18 is pressed downwardly the proper distance, thelower ends of its depending fingers engage inslots in this flange 30 andthus the inner die member 21 becomes locked to the outer set of thecollapsible dies.

Now as the die block 2 continues to descend, the cam portions 29 of thearms 8 shift the arms 26 in the other direction, and the three sets ofdies thus interlocked are rotated back to their original position. Thisremoves the support from the inner and upper die member 20 and allows itto be shifted into interlocking position with its corresponding lowermember '21. The movement is in the opposite direction and therefore theoblique surfaces of the interlocking fingers are reversed.

From the foregoing description and an examination of Figs.2, 5, 6 and 7the opera- ;tion of the dies will be made clear. The blank being firstout has its edges gradually turned down over the outer surface of thefirst collapsible die 18 to form a shallow cup. During this formingaction, the lower member of the outer set of collapsible dies is rotatedso that at the proper time the upperdie member 22 gradually descends andserves as a blank holder while the blank is being formed around theupper member of the next set of collapsible dies. The gradual descent ofdie member 22 under the downward pressure of shoulder 8, maintains aconstant pressure upon both sides of the blank and keeps it heated andprevents it from becoming creased. The lower member of that set becomesas described interlocked with the outer collapsible dies and is rotatedso as to allow the descending female die to form the metal around thefinal punch mem'ber. Thus during the whole operation, the sheet'metalunder treatment is held upon both sides and shaped to conform with thesurface of the dies. The metal form having been completely fdrined andfinished in this way, the

With the raising of the upper die block, the

knockout pin 34 pushes the blank from the die so that it is readilyremoved.

Our method of acting on the metal blank continuously in the samedirection has very important: advantages over the older punclr and diemethods, when the metal is bent alternately in opposite directions;

Where a sheet metal form is to be drawn in a series-of operations, thefirst step consists in cutting the blank and it is: then drawn over thefirst form. The blank then has to be removed and replaced in positionand drawn in the opposite direction and so on for each operation. Theresult of this is that great strain is placed on the metal, first in onedirection and then in the other, and it is necessary that the blankshould be annealed and softened between each succeeding operation." 1 ay I With our process we bring the forming pressure'ltobear always in onedirection and each movement follows in quick succession. The result. ofthis is that the sheet metal heats up and becomes liable so that it canbe formed without liab one continuous operation. Moreover bystarting'the bending of our blank near its edge by bending down a narrowflange, and by gradually increasing the depth of the flange, we avoiddrawing the metal in the central part thereof and consequently do notdiminish the thickness of the central art of the metal.

In addition to the fact that we are able to form thesheet metal articlein one continuous operation, we are also able to trim off the edge ofthe-completed article immediately before the completion of the finaloperation. To accomplish this we form a flange or somewhat thicken thefinal punch die 7 at a point wliich will be reached by the lower edge ofthe sheet metal form, so that as the upper die reaches the completion ofits prising a member having stroke, the metal blank will be cut ofi ortrimmed'smoothly between the two coacting dies which at this point fitclosely together, so that there is no room for any sheet metal.

In explaining our improved process and construction of dies, it has beennecessary for us to illustrate the method by certain concrete forms ordies. W e have selected ility of fracture in for this purpose thesimplest construction, that of drawing a cylindrical cup and we havealso only suggested two sets of collapsible dies.

It will be evident,- however, that the shapes of'the dies may be variedto suit any form to be drawn, and that the number of collapsible diemembers can be increased as desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is Y I 1. A method of forming sheet metalwhich consists in forcing in one continuous operation a blank through aplurality of dies arranged in series, each die being adapted to collapseafter it has served its purpose in the drawing operation to present theblank for the subsequent forming operations of the remaining dies.

2. A method of forming sheet metal which consists in forcing in onecontinuous operation a blankthrough a plurality of dies arranged inseries, each d1e being adapted to collapse under pressure after it hasserved its purpose in the forming operation to present the blank for thesubsequent formlng I the forming operation to present the blank formingoperations of the remaining dies, and then removing the rough edges ofthe finished article at the termination of the final drawing operationby pressing the edges between the shoulders on the dies. H

4;. A method of forming sheet metal which for the subsequent 'consistsin forcing in one continuous operation'a blank through a plurality ofdies arranged in series, each die being adapted to collapse underpressure after it has served its purpose in the forming operation topresent the blank for the subsequent forming operations of the remainingdies, and serve as a blank holder during the next succeeding operation,and then removin the rough edges of the finished article at the termination of the final forming operation by pressing the edges between theshoulders on the 1es. 5. A sheet metal forming apparatus coma recesswith in wardly converging walls, an opposed member comprising a" seriesof concentric collapsible die members adapted successively to contactwith the walls of the recess and automatic means adapted to cause thedie members successively to collapse as the opposed member enters therecess.

6. In an apparatus of the character speci fied, collapsible diescomprising an upper and lower member adapted to telescope with eachother, with means for shifting one of said members to bring itscorresponding die member into telescopic engagement whereby the membersmay be collapsed.

7. In an apparatus of the character specified, in combination withpermanent coacting dies, of a plurality of collapsible die membersadapted to serve both as dies and as blank holders, supporting membersfor the collapsible .dies, and means for shifting the supports insuccession to permit the dies to collapse to bring the dies into use insuccession.

8. In an apparatus of the character specified, in combination withpermanent coacting dies, of a plurality of collapsible die membersadapted to serve both as dies and as blank holders, supporting means forthe collapsible dies, and means intermediate one of the permanentcoactingdies and the sup porting members ,for shifting the supports 10.In an apparatus of the character specified, in combination withpermanent coacting dies, of a plurality of collapsible dies, eachcomprising an upper and a lower member adapted to telescope with eachother, with means for shifting one of said members to bring itscorresponding die into telescopic position.

11. In an apparatus of the character specified, in combination withpermanent coacting dies, of a plurality of collapsible dies, eachcomprising an upper and a lower mem ber, .with interlocking fingers uponwhich each die is supported, withmeans for rotating one of said membersto bring into alinement the fingers of one member and the spaces of theother, whereby the members I may be collapsed.

12. In a mechanism of the character specified, in combination with afemale die shaped to give final form to the finished article, ofa.coacting male die and a series of concentric die members to serve asdies and blank holders in succession, said members comprising asupporting'and forming portion, with interlocking fingers, having thefingers beveled in opposite directions, a contact portion extending froma supporting member, with a cam actuated by the female die to engagesaid contact portion and to shift the support for the forming member inopposite directions as the dies are brought together.

JAMES H. AUBLE. JAMES L. AUBLE.

